My 100th Post

I’ve been thinking over the past few weeks what I should devote my 100th post to. I kicked around “100 things to do in Pennsylvania,” but ultimately that felt a little cliché, and long (although I did start working on this for my 101st or 102nd or 103rd post). I thought about a retrospective of everything I’ve covered so far: my favorite post, my favorite destination, etc, etc, which itself felt somewhat like a cop-out (although again, a cop-out that I think I will steal for a later post) and I considered creating some sort of ultimate-fantasy trip, but that didn’t feel like it’d be right either as I’m not planning on taking some sort of ultimate fantasy trip in the near future.

The thing is, 100 posts should seem like a big deal, but for some reason it doesn’t. It makes me wonder why it took almost a year to this far. I feel like “get to 100 posts” has been a goal of mine for some time here at PAWeekendFun, just something I struggled to actually achieve, but such is the life of a hobbyist blogger. I post on here when I have time in my everyday working and living schedule, so I guess I should actually be celebrating this occasion more than I should.

What I decided to devote my 100th post to is an update on my upcoming weekend plans (May’s always a big month), what I have in the works for this summer (you could check out my summer list here for the smaller projects) as well as some changes you can expect to see in the future.

Upcoming Events for May:

Now that I’m 27, officially my late 20’s, I’ve realized that I’ve developed something of a yearly routine. January is always slow for me, but really, I think that goes for everyone. I’m usually trying to exercise more, drink less, and save up some of the money that the holiday season pillaged from my bank account. February typically starts slow but by the end I’m antsy after sitting around all January and start darting places on the weekend. March is my downfall and then April is something of a repeat of January. I run more, try to eat better, drink less (fun fact: I’ve been sober for 2.5 on my own recognizance and miraculously almost ten pounds have disappeared. It’s crazy, but I’m planning on getting back in the saddle this weekend) and typically lay low to help the funds recover. May is always hectic and this year is not different.

On the first weekend of May (Cinco De Mayo weekend!) I’m heading back to NEPA for The Farewell to the Office Wrap Party. The Office is ending its 9 year run this year and Scranton is giving the show that put it on the map (TO SOME PEOPLE!) a proper sendoff. There’s an actual Office convention with a cast panel and discussion as well as a ceremony at the baseball stadium that you need to pay a ludicrous amount of money to go to. There’s also a street fair and parade on Saturday that’s open to the public. Two parade day’s in Scranton this year. That was all I need to know.

The following weekend I have friends coming down to Lancaster to attend a brewfest at the PA Renn Faire and then the weekend of May 18th is Preakness weekend in Baltimore. This will be my fourth Preakness. We have a great crew assembled and Florida Georgia Line, my newest favorite country act is set to play.

Summertime:

I’m starting off my summer with a Tough Mudder in Philly on June 1st. I still haven’t run more than 3 miles in a long time so May will also see a lot of running. I’m doing it with my buddy Eric who is doing an Iron Man while I binge drink at Preakness Infield. I’ve already conceded that his athletic prowess will humiliate me.

I have my five year college reunion in Scranton the following weekend which is a scary thought to think and then, fingers crossed, my sister and I will add to my international repertoire in late June with a tentative trip to Iceland. This is still in the works, but I’m really hoping it happens. If you’ve been following this blog at all you realize I’m obsessed with visiting Iceland for no real good reason (lies, there’s a ton of them).

Blog Changes

Overall I’m happy with the trajectory my little site is on, however 100 posts did make me sit down and analyze the things I did wrong, the things I liked, and the things that I want this blog to become.

My first problem is that I post more infrequently than I’d like and that my posting sessions are erratic. When I have the time, I’ll pump out two or three articles and post them in quick succession, and then not be heard of for almost an entire month (or two months if you count my bout with mono). I’ve decided that, in order to hold myself more accountable and to muster up a modicum of consistency, I’ll be starting a “weekly trip idea” series.

These posts will be shorter and more to the point, sparser almost, than my typical posts. The point of them will to simply throw out an idea of somewhere local (within a day’s drive) that one could spend a weekend at. It might be an entire weekend, or perhaps just a day trip, and the post won’t be more than a paragraph or two. These may be places I haven’t visited myself and I won’t necessarily have time to give you lodging or eating, or “other activity” ideas, but hopefully at least maybe you’ll have some new ideas when you’re going to plan your own trips. On really wild weeks, I’ll pop two of these out…maybe three if I’m really living on the edge.

And while we’re on the subject of planning trips, I hope to dedicate more blog posts to the actual planning aspect of weekend fun. Sure, jumping in the car and driving is always a good time, but the bigger trips, the ones with multiple people and feeding those people and finding suitable lodging and planning activities in advance to maximize time and cover everyone’s interests, those trips take planning. Planning is, not to pat my own back, my forte, and I believe an area that I could actually provide some solid advice to those of you who usually let someone else take the reigns. Planning trips ahead saves a lot of time and money in the long run.

I’d also like to focus more on upcoming events. Reading about my Preakness 2013 adventure doesn’t prepare you for the Infield (well, maybe in 2014). Part of the rationale of starting this blog is that I’m literally always researching upcoming events. I’ll try and be more cognizant of posting my findings–sharing is caring after all.

And lastly, I finally downloaded the wordpress app to my IPhone (despite the fact that I blog, my technological sensibilities are still very 90’s) which should allow me more at the moment postings, whether it just be a quick update, observation, or photo. Hopefully I’ll introduce a little bi more as-it-happens aspect to this blog rather than purely retrospective (which I’m not knocking, retrospective is good).

Anyhow, if you’ve been following along I appreciate it and hopefully you’ll stick with me for 100 more posts. Feel free to leave suggestions.